2,250 Shares in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Acquired by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,250 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Popular in the third quarter worth about $213,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Popular by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Arcus Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular in the third quarter worth approximately $201,000. Versor Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Popular by 418.4% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 19,700 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 235.5% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 332,093 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,299,000 after purchasing an additional 233,119 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.88.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $96.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.79. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.08 and a 1 year high of $105.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.99.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The business had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. Popular’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 33.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. The trade was a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,242 shares of company stock worth $1,102,880 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.